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United States Patent | 5,638,347 |
Baca ,   et al. | June 10, 1997 |
A library of disk media units for use in a data processing environment wherein receptacle columns hold multiple cartridges which in turn hold multiple media units comprised of caddies and recording disks. A picker system moves media into and from the drive units and receptacle columns. Drive units are also located within the receptacle columns. The caddies and cartridges are supplied with hole patterns to coact with optical sensors within the receptacle columns and thereby provide information to the library controller indicating the proper/improper operation of the picker system in positioning media units. Also, the hole pattern on the media unit enables the sensors to provide informational content about the media unit to the processor.
Inventors: | Baca; Francisco A. (Tucson, AZ); Dang; Chi-Hung (Tucson, AZ); Dang; Chi-Thanh (Tucson, AZ); Dimitri; Kamal E. (Tucson, AZ); Means; Rodney J. (Tucson, AZ); Yardy; Raymond (Tucson, AZ) |
Assignee: | International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY) |
Appl. No.: | 468843 |
Filed: | June 6, 1995 |
Current U.S. Class: | 369/30.31; 360/98.04 |
Intern'l Class: | G11B 017/22; G11B 017/04 |
Field of Search: | 369/33,34,36,38,178,179,191,192,193,194 360/91,92,98.01,98.04,98.06 |
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Foreign Patent Documents | |||
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"Optical Disk Cartridges for Information Interchange," ISO/IEC JTCI SC23/WG2 13842 Editing Meeting, Apr. 1994--Herndon, VA. "Proposed Specifications for 130mm Optical Disk Cartridges, Rewritable and WORM Using Phase Change Technology and Embossed Read-Only Capacity: 2,0 gigabytes per cartridge," Doc.No. X3B11/94-103, 4th Draft, X3 Secretariat, Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association (CBEMA), Aug. 1, 1994, Washington, D.C. International Standard, "Information technology--130 mm rewritable optical disk cartridge for information exchange," ISO/IEC 10089, First Edition, 1991-05-01. |